The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-04-13
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! Fathers house are many mansions and rent
day never comes. Here there are death beds and
i collins, and graves; there no sickness, no
| weary watching no choking cough, no con-
Stunning fever, no chatterlng chill, no 1olnng ls
| bell no grave The sorrows of life shall come
up and knock at the door, but no admlttance:
| The pelplexities of Life shall come up and
knocI on the door, but no admittance. Safe
| forep r! All the agony of earth in one wave
! daShiug against tho bulwarks OF the snip OF
! celestial light shall not break them down.
Howl on, ye winds, and rage. ye seas! The
Lord-"the Lord shut him in"
, o, what grand old door so wide, so
! easily swung both ways, and with such sure
, fastenings No burglars key can pick that
/ lock No swarthy arm of hell can shove back
| the bolt. rejoice that do not ask you to
| come aboard crazy craft with leaking hulk,
and broken helm, and unfastened door; but
an ark fifty cubits wide, and three hundred
cuhits long, and O door so large that the
round earth, without grazing hepoSts, might
be bowled in.
Now, if the ark Of Christ is so grand place
| in which to live. and die, and triumph, come
! into the ark Know well that the door that
shut Noah in shut the world out; and though
when the pitiless storm came pelting on their
heads, they beat upon the door, saying:
.'Let me in let me in!" the door did not open.
For 120 years they were invited. They ex-
pected to come in; but the Antediluvians
said: eve must cultivate these fields;
we must be worth more focks of
sheep and herds of cattle; we will wait
until we get a. little older; we will enjoy our
old farm little longer" But meanwhile
the storm was brewing. The fountains of
placed beneath the foundations of the great
| Deep The last year had come, the last month,
the last week, the last day, the last hour, the
last moment In an awful dash, an ocean
dropped from the sky, and another rolled up
| from beneath; and God rolled the earth and
sky into one wave of universal destruction.
So men now put off going into the ark.
They say they will wait twenty years first
They will have little longer time with their
worldly associates. They will wait until they
get older They say: "You cannot expect a
man of my attainmentS and of my position to
surrender myself just now. But before the
storm comes, l will go in. Yes, will. I
know what 1 am about. Trust me-" After
, awhile, one night about twelve O'clock going
home, he passes scaffoiding asa gust OF WIND
strikes it.and q plank falls. Death! and outside
the ark Or riding in the park, "a reckless vehicle
crashes into him. and his horse becomes un-
manageable, and he shouts, "Whoa! Whoa!"
ami takes another twist in the reins, and
plants his feet against the dashboard, and
pulls back. But no use. 1t is not so much
down tho avenue that he flies as on the way
to eternity. Out of the wreck of the crash
his body is drawn, but his soul is
not picked up. 1t fled behind a
swifter courser into the great future.
Dead! and outside the ark! Or, some
night, he wakes up with distress that
momentarily increases, until he shrieks out
with pain. The doctors come in, and they
give him twenty drops, fifty drops, sixty
drops, but no relief. Notime for prayer. No
time to read one of the promises. No time to
acip rfnpaJ Tho vyhO1a hOnSa
IS aroused in alarm. The children scream
The wife faints. The pulses fail. The heart
stops. The soul flies. Oh, my God dead!
and outside the ark!
have no doubt that derision kept many
people out of the ark. The world laughed to
see man 60 in and said: "Here is man
starting for the ark. Why, there will be no
will not weather it. Aha! going into the ark!
Well. that is too good to keep. Here, fellows,
have you heard the newsl This man is going
into the ark" Under this artillery of scorn
the mans good resolution pefished
And so there are hundreds kept out by the
fear of derision. The young man asks him
self: "What would they say at the store TO-
morrow morning, if should become Chris
tian? When go down to the clubhouse they
would shout: "Here comes that new Chris
tian. Suppose you are praying now. Get
down on your knees and let us hear you pray.
Come, now, give us a touch. Will not do It,
ell! Pretty Christian you are.'" Is it not the
fear of being laughed at that keeps you out of
the kingdom of Godi Which of these scorners
will kelp you at the last. When you lie down
on dying pillow, which of them will be
there! In the day Of eternity, will they bail
you outl
Ny friends and neighbors, come in right
away. Come in through Christ, the wide
door-the door that swings out toward you.
Come in, and be saved. Come and be happy.
''The Spirit and the Bride say, Come" Room
in the ark Room in the ark
But do not come alone. The text invites
you to bring your family. "Comc thou and
all thou house." That means your wife and
YOUR children. You cannot drive them in
If Noah had tried to drive the pigeons and
the doves into the ark, he would only have
scattered them. Some parents are not wise
about these things. They make iron Iules about
Sabbaths, and they force the catechism down
the throat, as they would hold the childs nose
and force down a dose of rhubarb and calomel.
You cannot drive your children into the ark.
You can draw your children to Christ, but
you cannot coerce them. The cross was
lifted not to drive, but to draw. "lf l be
lifted up will draw all men unto me-" AS
the sun draws up the drops of morning dew,
so tho Sun of Righteousness exhales the tears
of repentance.
"Come thou and all thy house into the ark"
Be sure that you bring your husband and
wife with you. How would Noah have felt
if, when he heard the rain pattering on the
! roof of the ark, he knew that his wife was
outside in the storm9 No; she went with
him. And yet some of you are on the ship
outward bound" for heaven, but your COM
panion is unSheltered. You remember when
| the marriage ring was set. Nothing has yet
| been able to break it. Sickness came, and
the finger shrank but the ring staid on. Ihe
| twain stood alone above childs grave, and
the dark mouth Of the tomb swallowed up
! thousand hopes but the ring dropped not
! into the open grave Days of poverty came,
and the hand did many hard days work
| but the rubbing of the work against the
ring ever be lost2 Will the iron clang of the
sepulchre-gate crush it .forevera I pray God
that you who have been marred on earth may
| be together in heaven. OH by tho quiet bliss
of your earthly home; by the babes cradle;
by all the vows of that day when you started
| life together, beg you to see to it that you
both get into the ark.
Come in, and bring your wife or your hus-
band with you-not by fretting about re-
| ligion, or ding longing them about religion,
but by consistent life, and by a compelling
prayer that shall bring the throne of God
down into your bedroom. Better live in the
smallest house in Brooklyn and get into heaven
than live fifty years in the finest house on
Madison Square, and wake up at last and
find that one Of you, for all eternity, is out
side the ark. Go home tonight; lock the
door of your room; take up the Bible and
read it together, and then kneel down and
commend your souls to Him who has watched
you all these years; and, before you rise,
there will be fiuttering of wings over your
head, angel crying to angel: "Behold they
praym
But this does not include all your family.